Program Information

Mary from New Hampshire

We have always used our own "program" for our grade school children, but since they will want to go to college, we decided we needed something more formal for high school. Right now we have one child who will be a senior and one who will be starting 9th grade, plus two younger children. We chose STAA three years ago because we

had a lot of good things going that were working for us, and STAA has the flexibility to allow us to continue with these activities and actually count them for high school credit. This has helped us to continue with our own style of home schooling while making sure we covered all the bases for college admission. If you look at my daughter's transcript, you will see it's very heavy on the arts, with ballet, piano, fine arts, and voice. These are all the things that she loves to do, and she hasn't had to give any of it up in order to prepare herself for college. My son, who will be entering ninth grade this fall, will probably be slanted towards the arts and physical education. I have especially appreciated the flexibility of the STAA program. It is comforting to me to know that we're not locked into anything, and can make changes when things are not working well. I also like the reporting system. It allows us to keep track of what we're doing, but it is not excessively burdensome like some programs are. It has also allowed my daughter to take responsibility for her own education, since she is the one who has ended up doing the lion's share of the work involved in the quarterly reports. She is much more careful to get her work done on time, and to earmark certain assignments for the reports throughout the quarter. In fact, doing the reports has been a valuable learning experience for her in its own right. I would recommend this program to any homeschooler who is looking for a solid, comprehensive program that is based in the fundamentals of learning, but who also wants the flexibility to follow individual interests and learning styles.